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University Workers Relieved To Avoid Strike

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MONMOUTH, Ore. - Public university employees in Oregon say they’re glad they won’t be going on strike. But that doesn’t mean they’re all happy with the tentative contract deal. Negotiators reached that settlement early Thursday morning after an all-night bargaining session.

Workers had planned to meet Thursday to discuss a possible strike. Instead, SEIU members at campuses around the state got details of a tentative agreement reached with the Oregon University System. Some workers who wouldn’t speak on tape called the deal a step backward and said they were upset with the contract. But most I talked to said at the very least, they’ll be glad to stay on the job. Angie Barry is an office coordinator at Western Oregon University.

“I know we all are very relieved that we didn’t have to strike. But we were prepared for that. If we needed to, we needed to,” Barry said.

Like many other state employees, the nearly 4,000 classified university workers are being asked to take more unpaid furlough days and pay health insurance premiums in exchange for a roughly 3 percent raise over two years. Oregon University Chancellor George Pernsteiner called the deal “a fair settlement” that reflects “the realities of an unstable economy.”